


Always the Helper, Now the Helped

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F, Reader-Insert, sick day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 14:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11292450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Always the Helper, Now the Helped

“Baby, you are not okay,” you said, staring at your girlfriend as you rolled over in bed that morning. Last night, Penelope had looked like she was going to come down with a cold, and sure enough, this morning she’d woken up with a stuffy nose, a sore throat, a headache, and an overwhelming wave of stubbornness that was forcing you to push her back into bed. “You are not going to work today. I’m calling Hotch right now.” You ripped the phone out of her hand. Her stubborn ass would’ve gone in to work like this. You loved her; to you, she was the most beautiful woman in the world, but she looked like hell right now and needed to rest. 

Penelope attempted to get out of quickly, knocking all the crap around in her head and forcing her to lie back down. “No! I’m good. I swear,” she said.

“Hotch?” you said when he picked up the phone. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be in a little late because Penelope is sick and she won’t be coming in today. I’m gonna get her set up and then I’ll be in.”

He’d wished for her to feel better and for you to take your time getting in. There was only some paperwork today, so there really was no rush. “The deed is done. You aren’t going to work.”

“Okay,” she whined, plopping back down onto the bed with a thud that sent shockwaves through her head.

After pulling on some decent work clothes you grabbed everything you possibly could to make your girlfriend feel better. Just in case she got really sick, you put a bucket on the side of her side of the bed. “Take these,” you said, handing her a variety of pills. “One is for the headache and two are for the cold.” You also left another set of pills for later on in the day. “Here are tissues and I put The Princess Bride in the DVD player. Please call me if you need me, we are just doing paperwork today, so I don’t care if I have to run out.” With a slight nod, you kissed her on the forehead and ran out the door.

—-

“How’s my baby girl doing?” Morgan asked. 

For nearly two years, you’d been working as the BAU’s communications liaison after JJ had become a profiler, and when you started, you knew that your bisexual girlfriend was best friends with one the sexiest men alive. Even you could see that and you were a lesbian. But Morgan only wanted the best for his baby girl and the two of you had gotten close too. “She is as sick as a dog, Morgan,” you replied. You were never one to sugarcoat things. “I had to actually take the phone from her and call her in sick because she would’ve come in.”

“Garcia’s not feeling well?” Spencer asked as he walked in with JJ after grabbing a fresh cup of coffee. Shaking your head, you took a seat at your desk and pulled out your phone resisting the urge to call and see how she was feeling. She needed her rest. 

JJ was also really close with Penelope, so whenever she was out, JJ felt a little off balance. “Maybe we can take turns going to see her today?” she asked excitedly. “It’s going to be a boring day here anyway.”

“Sounds good to me,” Morgan said. “Me first!” It was decided then. Morgan was going to go over first in about an hour. Then JJ and then Spencer. At the end of the day, the entire team would go over with dinner and you’d all watch a movie together. 

Penelope was absolutely the team’s caregiver, so when she was sick she felt completely helpless and she hated it; she also hated being along when she was sick. That’s why you knew having people in and out all day would be better for her. You texted her to see how she was feeling. “Like crap. But I can’t sleep.” Well, at least no one would be waking her up from a nap.

“Alright, I’m out,” Morgan said, giving Hotch a wave that he’d be back soon. As he walked out, you threw him the keys to your apartment.

“Operation Keep Penelope Occupied While She Gets Better has commenced.”

“Y/N,” Spencer said, “I think we might need a better name for the operation.” He said as he grimaced.

—-

Knock. Knock.

“Who is it?” Penelope asked from behind the door. She ambled up with a blanket wrapped around her and looked through the peephole. “It’s my Chocolate Thunder!”

When she opened the door, she was surprised to not only see Morgan, but Morgan with a tiny, fluffy, multi-colored cat. “Who is this?” she said excitedly, sniffling a bit as the medicine filled its purpose. 

“Nice to know you’ve missed me,” Morgan replied facetiously. “This is one of Savannah’s friends cats. I asked if I could borrow her for an hour or so. Her name is Jewel.”

“Hi, Jewel,” Penelope said happily. Cats always made everything better. As she walked back to bed the blanket fell off her shoulders, so Morgan picked it up and placed it back over her as she played with the kitten. 

“Have you taken your medicine?” he asked. He was pretty sure Y/N had gotten her set with medicine this morning but it didn’t hurt to check. As she replied that she had in fact taken some medicine and had some toast for breakfast, she pulled out her laptop. “Are you working?”

“Nooooo….”

Morgan reached and grabbed the laptop from her and replaced it with the kitten again, who was now roaming around on her bed. “No work,” he said emphatically. “Play with the kitten. Watch movies. Read a book maybe. That’s the most stressful you are allowed to get. Reading.”

“But I feel so useless,” she said, lifting the kitty above her head and giving her a sleepy smile. She looked drunk. She was so tired. “I need to be doing something.” An enormous yawn escaped her as the kitten climbed up on her shoulder.

“Maybe sleep,” Morgan said. “I’ll tell everyone else to give you a little while before they visit.”

She insisted she didn’t need a nap, but after yawning two more times she gave in, handing the kitten back to Morgan. “Tell your friend thank you,” she said, about to get up from bed. “She’s adorable.”

“She is,” he laughed. “And I’m not even a cat guy. You stay here. I’ll let myself out.” After grabbing Jewel, who really didn’t want to leave, Morgan gave Garcia a kiss on the forehead and let himself out, laughing to himself as she started snoring the second her head hit the pillow.

—-

Nearly two hours later, a little after noon, Penelope woke up from her nap and texted Y/N saying that whoever was going to visit could come now that she was up. “My turn!” JJ said. She was someone who needed to be busy. Whether it be with her kids, or out in the field, or even her work when she served as liaison, but sitting still on a paperwork day was driving her crazy. “I’m going to bring over a thing of soup from that deli down the street from your apartment. That and some cat videos on Youtube and she’ll be feeling great.”

“You do know the way to my baby’s heart,” Y/N laughed. “Tell her I love her and I’ll see her later.” 

JJ headed out of the Bureau and toward the apartment. She wouldn’t wish for Garcia to be sick but she sure was happy to be out of the office. After stopping by to get some soup for herself and Garcia, and putting in another order for Y/N to pick up on the way back from Penelope’s place, she headed over. “Who is it?” Garcia called out. She actually didn’t sound to bad right now. “Jage,” she said giving her a hug. “Oh, you brought soup. You do love me!”

With a satisfied groan, she took the soup from JJ and sat at the table, slurping it up with intense joy. “This seriously hits the spot,” she said. “Thank you. It means a lot that people have been coming around.”

“We know how you feel when you’re sick…useless,” they both finished. 

“Exactly. I feel weird sitting around and doing nothing.”

JJ understood. She always needed to be on the move, which is why the paperwork had been driving her nuts. “I know, but are you feeling any better than you were this morning?”

After blowing her nose and going into a bit of a coughing fit, she actually said yes. “Everything is loosening up. Maybe if I take it easy today, I’ll be able to go to work tomorrow.”

“Probably,” JJ said. “Spence is gonna come over later and then we’re all gonna have dinner here and watch a movie later.”

Garcia smiled happily, leaning back in her chair and sipping at the last of her soup. “I think I’m gonna go take another little nap before Spencer comes over.”

“Okay babe,” JJ said. She extended her arms and brought Penelope in for a hug, regardless of the fact that Garcia said she didn’t want to make anyone sick. “Get some rest. We’ll see you tonight.”

Once again, Garcia got into bed and fell asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow. 

Finally, at around 2:30 PM, Spencer got to the apartment. Garcia felt even better then when JJ had come over, but she was still really tired. “We don’t have to do anything,” Spencer said, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. “In fact, if you want, I could read a book to you while you sleep.”

“Awwww, that’s why I love you Spencer Reid,” she sighed. “That sounds nice. How about this one?” From her and Y/N’s bookshelf, she picked out the first Harry Potter book. “I don’t know why Harry Potter always makes me feel better.”

“I do,” Reid said sitting down and opening up to the front page.

“Why?”

“Because it’s magical,” he replied with a cheesy smile. “Oh and before I forget I brought you one of the blueberry scones from the cafeteria.” 

“Oh, I love my friends.” She bit into it as Reid started to read. “Reid’s reading,” she giggled.

“And people say I’m the dork,” he said with a small laugh. While Garcia sat back, he started to tell the story so many knew by heart, about the young boy who lived on 4 Privet Drive and his many adventures. By the end of a couple of chapters, she was fast asleep again, so he let himself out with a silent promise to bring back the rest of the team later. “Sleep well, Garcia,” he said softly. 

—-

“Hey, babe!” you said, calling your girlfriend as you and the rest of the team left the BAU that night. It was around 6 PM and she’d only had toast and soup today, so you called to see what she wanted to eat. “What can I get you for dinner?”

“Actually, do you mind stopping at the diner and grabbing one of those plain Belgian waffles. I could go for that.”

“Your wish is my command,” you said lightly. 

Garcia snorted as you got off the phone. “I should get sick more often.”

Everyone grabbed something to eat from the diner before going back to your place. “You look so much better than this morning,” you said as you kissed her cheek. “Got a lot of sleep today.”

“Yea,” she said, immediately taking the container from you and chomping down on her waffle. “Thanks everyone for keeping me company today. I hate being helpless.”

“Don’t we all,” Emily laughed. The members of the BAU had never been the kind to ask for help; they just had to give and accept.


End file.
